Percussion sounding device.



J. C. DEAGAN.

PERCUSSION SOUNDING DEVICE.

APPLlCATION FILED NOV. 13,1916.

1,233,989. Patented July 17, 1917.

of the hammer stem 7 striking portions thereof.

entree PERCUSSION SOUNDING DEVTCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 11?, 1 .91%.

Application filed November 13, 1916. Serial a". 130,979.

To all whom it may concern. I

Be it known that I, JEFFERSON CLAUDE EAGAN, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Percussion Sounding Devices, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to musical instruments of the percussion type and resides in a hammer action employing a hammer head and a mounting for the head whereby different parts of the head may be selected for striking the vibrating element employing the action. These difi'erent parts of the hammer head that may be selectively employed for striking the vibrating element ave diii'ering sound producing eiiect upon the vibrating element. In the preferred embodiment of the invention these different parts of the hammer head are either of differing degrees of hardness or elasticity or are at unequal distances from the axis or have both of these characteristics, whereby vibrations of differing character or degree may be .set up in the sound producing element according to the adjustment imparted to the hammer head.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention I employ a hammer head having at least two striking portions that are of different degrees of hardness, suitable materials being ebony or other hard wood for forming the major part of the hammer head and a button of rubber carried upon one side of the hammer head for constituting one of the The other striking portion of the hammer head is of the wood that mainly composes the hammer head. By means of the hard striking surface of the hammer head the sound producing element such as a vibrant bar may be set into sharp vibrations whereas when the bar is struck by the rubber part of the hammer head the sound produced will be softer.

In the preferred construction the hammer stem is not adjustable for the purpose of presenting differing parts of the halmner head to the vibrant bar, the hammer head itself being preferably rotatably mounted u on the hammer stem and being provide with means whereby it may be held in difierent positions of rotary adjustment for the purcoil pose of maintaining any selected part of the hammer head in striking relation to the vibrant bar.

I will explain my invention morefully by reference to the accompanying drawin showing the preferred embodiment thereo and in which Figure 1 illustrates an electric hammer action, the structure being illustrated partially in section and partially in elevation, the circuit of the action being diagrammatically illustrated; Fig. 2 is a side view of the structure shown in Fig. 1 with the hammer head in an alternative adjustment; Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the manner in whichthe hammer head may be rotatably adjusted upon its stem; and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the the axis of the stem, parts being shown in full elevation. 1

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughout the different figures.

The soundproducing element illustrated is in the form of a vibrantbar 1 located in front of a resonator 2. The hammer action includes an electro-magnet 3 whose armature carries switching mechanism at 4 for automatically breaking the electric circuit after its establishment by the playing key'5 and before the hammer head has struck the bar, as will be well understood by those skilled in the art, and as the circuit arrangement forms no part of my present invention a detail description thereof will not be required and while I prefer to employ an electric action I do not wish to be limited 7 thereto. The hammer action illustrated includes a stem 6 for the hammer head, this stem being carried by the armature 7 or other hammer head actuator. The stem 6 carries a flange 8 that is fixed thereupon, this flange carrying fingers 9 extending parallel to the stem. Where the hammer head is designed to have but two selectable strik ing surfaces the fingers 9 are desirably diametrically opposite and are receivable in holes 10 that maybe brought into register therewith and which holes are the harder and larger part of head 11 that is preferably made other hard wood. The outer or the hammer of ebony or free end of ,thestem is threaded and receives a nut 12 constitutmg an adjustable abutment for a spring 13 which is interposed between the abutment nut 12 and the hammer head hammer head co-incident with provided in portion 11. The portion 11 of the hammer head is movable longitudinally of the stem 6 and, when free of engagement with the fingers 9, is rotatable upon such stem. When the hammer head is moved outwardly against the force of the spring 13 it may be turned a half revolution (under the assumption that there are but two striking surfaces for the hammer head) to bring the openings 10 into new alinement with the hammer head for presenting a new striking surface to the sounding bar, the spring 13 maintaining the hammer head in fixed engagement with the stem by pressing the hammer head against the flange 8 and maintaining the engagement between the fingers 9 and the openings 10. As illustrated, the hammer head has two striking sides that are, in this instance, diametrically opposite. The striking side 14 is hard, being in one piece with the major part 11 of the wooden hammer head.. The striking side of the hammer head diametrically opposite to the striking side 14 is desirably made of a softer material such as a rubber button 15 held in place by a nail 16 that is driven into the wooden part of the hammer head. By the structure illustrated and described either striking part 14 or 15 of the hammer head may be brought into striking relation to the sound producing bar 1 and, in the preferred embodiment, the relatively hard and soft striking parts of the hammer head are at differing distances from the hammer stem or axis of rotation of the hammer head, the soft side 15 of the hammer head being desirably slightly closer to the axis of rotation of the hammer head than the hard side 14. In Fig. 1 the soft side 15 of the hammer head is shown in striking relation to the vibrant bar 1 whereas in Fig. 2 the hard side 14 of the hammer head is shown in striking relation to the vibrant bar and slightly nearer thereto.

In my division of this application Serial No. 173,116, filed June 6, 1917 I have claimed the hammer structure per 80.

While I have herein shown and particularly described the preferred embodiment of my invention I do not Wish to be limited to the precise details of construction shown as changes may readily be made without departing from the spirit of my invention, but having thus described my invention I claim asvnew and-desire to secure by'Letters Patent the following:

1. A percussion sounding device including a vibrating sound producing element and a hammer action for setting the sound producing element into vibration, said hammer action including a hammer head provided with different striking parts having different sound producing effect upon the sound producing element and which hammer head is adjustable selectively to bring the different striking parts thereof into striking relation with the sound producing element.

2. A percussion sounding device including a vibrating sound producing element and a hammer action for setting the sound producing element into vibration, said h mmer action including a hammer head provided with relatively hard and soft striking parts having difierent sound producing effect upon the sound producing element and which hammer head is adjustable selectively to bring the different striking parts thereof into striking relation with the sound producing element.

3. A percussion sounding device including a vibrating sound producing element and a hammer action for setting said sound producing element into vibration, said hammer action including a hammer head having different striking parts and adjustable selectively to bring the different striln'ng parts into striking distance from the sound pro ducing element.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 25th day of October A. D., 1916.

JEFFERSON CLAUDE DEAGAN.

Witnesses:

E. J. Ex'rER, JOHN C. 'DEAGAN. 

